Orb is the one in Kentucky Derby

He told anyone who came by his barn on the Churchill Downs backstretch that he was more excited for the 139th Kentucky Derby than he had been for a race in a long, long, time.

That’s because he had a 3-year-old colt named Orb in his barn.

Orb made sure his trainer didn’t sound like a fool as he gobbled up the sloppy track at Churchill Downs and turned America’s most famous horse race into a mini-rout. Orb and jockey Joel Rosario won the 1 ¼ mile race by two and a half lengths in front of 151,616, the ninth largest crowd in Derby history.

In the process, Orb stamped himself as the top 3-year-old country and he’ll take his five-race winning streak to Baltimore in two weeks for stop No. 2 in the elusive Triple Crown.

If Orb can win the Preakness on May 18, he would put himself in position to become the sport’s first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 if he can then win the Belmont Stakes in New York on June 8.

First things, first, though. Trainer Shug McGaughey – winning the Derby for the first time in seven tries – thought he had the best horse for the Run for the Roses. He may very well think he has the best horse in the country. He has won all four of his starts this year, including the Grade II Fountain of Youth and Grade I Florida Derby in his two starts before the Derby.

“I said to myself that I was going to go over there and have fun,” McGaughey said. “I did think I had the right horse. When they swung the latch, I thought to myself, ‘just enjoy the race.’ If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”

Everything worked.

Joel Rosario, who had ridden Orb in his first five starts, got the mount back after Hall of Famer John Velazquez decided to ride the unbeaten Verrazano in the Derby after riding Orb to wins in the Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby.

Verrazano is unbeaten no more as he finished a well beaten 14th. He was never a factor and was the most heralded of the five horses entered by trainer Todd Pletcher.

“He just never got the kind of trip we had hoped for,” Pletcher said about Verrazano. “He was the one – of all our horses – who was most affected by the racetrack. He just couldn’t handle it.”

The best finish for Pletcher’s Fab Five was a third by Revolutionary, who was ridden by three-time Derby winner Calvin Borel.

“I said from the beginning that they were two great horses,” Velazquez said as he dodged people while walking through the congested Churchill tunnel on the way back to the jockey’s room. “I said whoever had the best trip and whoever handled the track would do well. My horse didn’t like it, and the other one did. I knew both of them were very good horses and I knew both would have a very good chance. When it comes to the Derby, you can’t ride both.”

Orb rallied through the stretch, passing Normandy Invasion inside the eighth pole and then holding off the late charge of 34-1 shot Golden Soul, who rallied in the stretch to get second, a length ahead of Revolutionary. The final time was 2:02.89.

Orb was sent off as the 5-1 favorite – just the second time in his eight-race career he has been favored and paid $12.80, $7.40, $3.40. He is owned by two powerful men in racing, cousins Stuart Janney III and Dinny Phipps.

This field was considered one of the more wide open in recent years and, besides the Pletcher five, featured Santa Anita Derby winner Goldencents, who was the 7-1 third choice. He was ridden by Kevin Krigger, who was attempting to become the first African American jockey to win the race since 1902.

Goldencents was never a factor and finished 17th.

“I thought the winner ran an unbelievable race,” Doug O’Neill, Goldencents’ trainer said. “I’m just still trying to figure out what happened to our colt. It’s hard to believe it could have been the track. He just didn’t fire. It’s part of the game. They aren’t machines. Sometimes, like humans, they just aren’t hitting their jump shots. It’s not their day, and things happen.”